Like thee I once have stemm’d the sea of life,
Like thee have languish’d after empty joys,
Like thee have labour’d in the stormy strife,
Been grieved for trifles, and amused with toys.
Forget my frailties; thou art also frail:
Forgive my lapses; for thyself may’st fall:
Nor read unmoved my artless tender tale—
I was a friend, O man, to thee, to all.
James Beattie
Still importunate and vain,
To former joys recurring ever,
And turning all the past to pain:
Thou, like the world, th’ oppress’d oppressing,
Thy smiles increase the wretch’s woe:
And he who wants each other blessing
In thee must ever find a foe.
Oliver Goldsmith
